Interpretive Inquiry

Yesterday, during my course on advanced planning theory I had the pleasure of relating our in-class discussion to a lyric from Notorious BIG’s Juicy. We are in the portion of the course dedicated to epistemology and were discussing the Hermeneutic Circle. Specifically, we were illustrating the concept of idea informing observation by discussing how neo-classical economists tend to observe all actions as guided by rationality (as defined by the discipline). Then we got on to how crime is perceived and how the perspective of the actors tends to influence the interpretation of actions observed. Consider, for example the case of a drug dealer. I used this opportunity to paraphrase Biggy’s opening to Juicy in which he dedicates the album to all the people who lived above the building he was hustlin’ in front of when he was just tryin’ to make some money to feed his daughter. My thoughts drifted from social science philosophy to Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. A fleeting moment of pride in my studies.